Silent Night
by BlackHowls
Summary: A downed Archangel, two lost captains. Will they survive or become the next victims of this hellish nightmare?
1. Fog

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters are copyright their respected owners 'n whatnot.

A/N - Ever so slight AU just for crossover reasons.

* * *

Ch-01 -fog-

Eyes blinked painfully open, blurred and tired.

_"Where… am I?"_

Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Warship _Archangel_ fully opened her eyes as the world around her came back into focus. Becoming aware of the dirt and gravel under her hands as she pushed herself to her knees, the slight cooling breeze along with the smoky aftertaste it brought with it. She dusted off a hand before rubbing her throbbing temple, trying to remember what the heck had happened. Slowly, her mind began to piece together past events and how she ended up laying face down in the dirt in the middle of nowhere.

"_Last thing I remember is…the sky…the battle." _The _Archangel,_ high in the air engines at maximum trying to outrun its pursuer. Lights and explosions, people yelling, others arguing. Chaos.

"_That's right… Kira had just landed when the Minerva ambushed us."_ The rest was fuzzy, she remembers trying everything in her power not to engage the rival ship, issuing orders to simply flee. The _Minerva_ was relentless however, and the ensuing firefight that broke out turned the sky into a hectic display of power. That is until both ships entered that strange fog.

_"I don't remember anything after that, what the heck happened up there?"_ She tried as hard as she could to remember the rest, but the fog that swallowed both ships seemed to be fogging her memory as well. _"If the Archangel did engage… how did I end up out here?"_

She looked around her current location, nothing out of the ordinary. Just thin dark trees a few rocky ledges that sloped down into damp grass. The moisture in the air was thick and gray making it difficult to distinguish the time of day, or anything that could be in the distance. There was a long winding road up ahead and she thought she could just make out the silhouette of a small town. She then turned around from her spot to see what else was nearby, her face paled at the sight before her eyes.

The _Archangel _was sitting right there behind Murrue, the peak of its height disappearing in the dense vapor that surrounded everything. Its two front 'legs' that gave the white ship its nickname were somewhat dug into the earth, and Murrue could see there was much disruption of the ground surrounding it. Huge chunks of dirt, trees and other debris scattered everywhere to suggest that the large ship didn't exactly have a soft landing.

_"We… crashed? That would explain why I can barely remember anything… but… I was on the bridge."_ Murrue decided it was best to make sure she wasn't hurt and slowly tried to get up.

She winced as she got on her feet, a sharp pain running through her upper right leg straight down to the knee. She paused a bit; worried perhaps she had broken it, and then took a step. Luckily it wasn't broken, only bruised and sore. She looked back up to the bridge of the _Archangel_, which was barely visible through the shrouding fog. She must have landed wrong, if she was indeed thrown down here from the impact. If that was the case, she was damn lucky a bruised leg was all she suffered.

_"There's no way I could have survived that fall… this doesn't make any sense!"_ No it didn't, but she quickly forgot about that and limped towards the legged ship. As she drew closer she began to wonder about something else, something very obvious and now very worrying. "_Where the heck is everyone? If I survived then… surely others would have."_

It took a while to reach the side entrance, it was a big ship, getting around it by foot was a task in of itself. But she found what she was looking for, the door usually used by officers and visitors when docked in port. From the silence coming from both outside and inside the white behemoth she already knew knocking (or thrashing wildly against the laminate armor) would be useless. Instead she put her engineering skills to work, the same skills that have gotten her out of many sticky situations in the past.

Using a long damaged piece of the ship she found laying around she managed to pry open the service hatch to the door. This was a simple trick, you didn't exactly need to be an engineer to know how to access the service panel and open the door manually. What you did need was an officer's code however, unless you were a hacker of sorts but… even that wouldn't help her now.

"This… is… impossible."

Murrue stared at the open hatch, where wires cables and a small numeric pad should be present, instead what Murrue stared was absolutely nothing. She placed her hand inside to make sure she wasn't seeing things, the inside of the hatch showed no signs of tampering, the small square space looked more like an empty cupboard then a service hatch.

She backed away, this was not right. Nothing was right. Where were the cables? Where were the holes in the back of the metal plating for the wires to travel from? Where was everyone! Where was she! What the hell was going on! A sound of metal scraping against metal in the distance drew her eyes away from the mystery and back out to the buildings of the small town some ways down the road. The town itself was mostly hidden in the same dense fog that was surrounding her and her warship, making it difficult to tell if it was abandoned or not. _"Maybe everyone sought out shelter there?" _She would check it later, the safety of her ship and its remaining crew more important for the time being. Slowly, she limped her way down behind her ship to see if the hangar was accessible.

"Well, this doesn't make me feel any better…"

To her luck the hangar bay was opened for some reason, but there were no signs that her crew had made any attempt to leave. There was debris scattered everywhere, most likely from the crash, but besides that everything was still in order. All the personnel jeeps were still parked and held down, munitions and supplies were still stored away safely, and even the Freedom Gundam was in its place, standing like a sleeping titan waiting for its master to return.

"_Kira wouldn't have just left his Gundam here, and Murdoch would have made his crew's safety a priority."_

She took a quick look around through all the undisturbed equipment, finding nothing of use she made her way towards the service elevator. She didn't expect it to work; the silence throughout the ship could only mean the engines were completely powered down, but it didn't hurt to check. She decided to try the same trick she had with the first door, this one having an easier access to its service hatch. This one wasn't so devoid of everything thankfully, but there was still one major problem. The keypad for the security code was missing.

"Who in the hell would take that of all things… and why?" She said, as she shifted through the tangle of wires and cables hoping perhaps she could solve her dilemma somehow. But this wasn't a car she could hot-wire… not that the respect worthy Captain Ramius ever hot-wired a car mind you… recently. Still, she needed that keypad.

"Damn it!" Murrue swore, turning away from the elevator and leaning against it in defeat. She let herself slide down to the floor as she tried to work out her next course of action. "Now what?" She wondered as she rested her head against the cool metal.

As if it were done as a practical joke, a small box to her left fell over on its own, startling her out of her thoughts as its contents spilled out in a clatter on the metal floor. Most of it was useless knickknacks, old bullet casings, empty magazines and some mechanical tools. One thing however caught her eye, or more precisely, her ear.

A small red old-fashioned pocket radio had slid out from the beat up cardboard box. Its switch had been jolted into the on position from the fall, and now the small device was emitting a soft sound. She doesn't know why she picked it up, but something about the sound intrigued her. Raising the volume a little, all she could hear was… static? No, it sounded like voices, but distorted horribly.

"What's going on with this radio?" She put it to her ear and listened.

…_run… be-… to late…everyo… Ramius!_

She nearly dropped it, the voice clear as day amongst the white noise. She stared at it, listening even harder then before to make sure that wasn't all in her head. She was certain she heard someone say her name, but whatever it was had vanished back into the static. "Must have just been my imagination..." As she tried to tune it her finger hit a small switch on its side, discovering the radio substituted as a small pocket flashlight as well.

"Well, at least I found one thing useful in here." Murrue sighed. Maybe she was just going a little crazy, she had found herself outside of her warship in an impossible place, almost unharmed after a major crash. There was no signs of her crew or even that her crew had left, and now she couldn't even make it back inside the _Archangel_ itself. Nothing added up, and she was starting to run out of ideas.

The static changed.

She looked to the little radio as the volume raised on its own, the sound of the static changing to an almost metallic whining. She tried to lower the volume but it was unresponsive, she flicked the switch to the off position but it made the sound regardless. "What… the… hell?"

Then the light began to fade.

Murrue turned her gaze to the hanger doors and to outside. The gray light began to darken much too quickly, this was not sunset, even if it was the light wasn't simply fading. It felt more like something was… sucking it away.

Then another sound, slowly building up until it was louder then even the little red radio in her hands. It sounded like a siren of some sort or an air raid alarm, but it was slow and drawn out. It got louder and louder, intensifying to the point she couldn't tell if it was coming from outside, or originating from inside her own head.

It got so deafening it began to hurt. Her hands cradled her temple as the pain increased. She fell to her knees, trying everything in her power to block out the noise. Looking around as the sound attacked her, things started to take on a different appearance, the walls turned dark red with a flesh-like texture, while the floor became aged as disturbing crimson rust slowly etched its way across the metal surface.

The sound was too much to bear, her vision began to blur and she felt her body betray her as she fell to the ground. The shadows around her began to shift and change, taking forms that resembled lumbering people, but the sound in her ears made it impossible for her to focus on anything. The last thing she noticed before she gave in to the darkness was the crackling sound of her radio, the shadows closing in around her, and the way the giant head of the Freedom Gundam seemed to turn in her direction as the glowing optic eyes began to cry a river of bloody tears. Everything else turned to black.

* * *

She woke up in a start. A sharp intake of cool air filled her lungs as her heart raced in her chest. The dark unimaginable images still fresh in her mind, but no longer present. It was bright as day, save for the fog. Old sounding country music blaring loudly from a radio on a nearby counter grabbed her attention. She took several deep breaths to stop her heart from pounding so hard, and then took in her surroundings.

"_That dream… it was a dream wasn't it?" _Murrue thought to herself as she looked around, she was in sixties style diner, the kind you would see locals and truckers frequent as they past through. As she got to a proper sitting position, she noticed she had been sprawled out on one of the leather booths in a corner away from the windows.

"How in the hell did I get here?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Another voice said. Murrue was instantly up, and was surprised to see a familiar woman sitting on a stool, looking out the front windows at the foggy streets. She was tall, broad shoulders made more apparent in the stark white commanders uniform. "You are real… aren't you?"

"Captain Gladys?" Murrue recognized the white Zaft uniform before the face but it was definitely her. They had met once in person before, but only briefly. Murrue was going by another name at the time but she had her doubts that she had fooled this woman at all. "Am I … your prisoner?"

Captain Talia Galdys did not utter a word at first; in fact she had yet to even look at Murrue and instead kept her gaze diligently forward. "No." She said quietly.

"Captain Gladys…"

"Talia." The tall blond said from her spot, still having not made eye contact with Ramius.

"Alright…" Murrue took a cautious step forward, not liking the way this woman seemed more interested in the fog then in making conversation considering their situation. "Talia… Do you know where everyone is? Did you bring me here?"

"No." Talia replied, no emotion in her voice. "And you were here when I found this place."

Murrue stepped closer still, trying to see what could be so interesting out in that fog. She looked back at her rival captain, and wondered what brought her out here of all places. Seeing how this woman didn't quite seem of her right mind, Murrue was unsure if she should ask if the _Minerva_ had also crashed nearby.

"Ca- … Talia, something strange is going on here, my crew has disappeared and I can't leave here until I find them. I know we were… kind of trying to kill each other a few hours ago, but…"

Talia finally locked eyes with the auburn haired captain. Murrue nearly took a step back; the intensity of that sudden glare nearly sapped the courage right out of her. She had to remember that this woman wasn't just the enemy she was also a coordinator, and a big one at that. If she wanted to pick a fight, Murrue didn't doubt it would be over very quickly.

"I'm not leaving here." Talia said, her voice a mask for the underlying fear that could be seen in her eyes. "You can do what ever the hell you want, but honestly… I don't recommend it."

"I have to find my crew, I can't just sit here and wait for someone to come rescue me." Murrue argued, trying to understand just what could cause this strange behavior in the woman in front of her. Their first meeting back in Orb left Murrue with a good impression of the other captain, so seeing her here acting strangely left Murrue feeling a bit unsettled. "I'll follow the roads to another town if it's the only way to make contact with… anyone really."

A small chuckle from the other captain caused Murrue to wonder if she had said something wrong. She was about to ask what was so funny when Talia's face suddenly turned serious. The blond captain shifted her arm, bringing it up and slamming it, along with a handgun down onto the table next to her.

"The roads huh? Well, you just go right ahead. I'll be right here if you need me."

Murrue was a tad perplexed as to why her rival could care less that a captain of an enemy faction was about to walk out the door. "Just like that, you're going to let me leave?" she asked, not wanting to turn her back on someone with a gun.

"I was under orders to sink the Archangel. I do not recall receiving an order to murder its captain in cold blood." Talia said, her gaze focusing back to the nothing outside once more. "Like I said, you go do what you want, but I'm not going back out into that..." She motioned outside and the thick greyness that swept the streets.

Murrue eyed her for a moment, before making her way towards the door. "If I find anyone, I'll be sure to mention you." The other captain said nothing and Murrue didn't push the matter further, figuring it was better not knowing what had this woman this way. She opened the door and entered back out into the mist.

Despite the low visibility, and lack of other human beings what so ever, the town looked like any other small town that she could ever remember visiting. Small corner stores and apartments that don't go above three floors. There were a few cars and trucks parked along the streets; some had their doors open as if their occupants decided to abandon them for whatever reason. A flash from her dream came back to her, and sent a chill down her spine.

_"Relax, it was just a dream. You hit your head and it made you think up some freaky stuff, that's all. This town was probably evacuated because of the war not from… whatever."_

She made her way down the road, her own footsteps the loudest thing echoing off nothing in particular. The dense fog seemed to cling to everything making her uniform damp and her skin clammy, not to mention making it difficult to see what was ahead of her. She walked with caution, avoiding debris and displaced dumpsters that were strewn along the sidewalks, taking occasional glances into the shops hoping to see some sign of life.

A shadow ahead, human shaped, moving slowly down the road. She thought she recognized that outfit, the tall slim form and that short scruffy hair. "Kira?" But the shape moved out of sight before she got a good look at it.

"Hey!" She called out just as the form disappeared ahead of her. "Wait! I need help!" She called after it before giving chase. Murrue rounded the corner of a closed-down grocery and continued down the street after the shadow, but just as she caught sight of it again it disappeared into the fog.

It was by pure luck that she saw the edge in time and stopped herself from going over. "Oh hell!" She swore as she slid to a halt and fumbled backwards, barely inches from where the road cracked and crumbled into nothingness. Not fully understanding what exactly she was seeing, she slowly and ever so carefully approached the edge, smaller pieces of rock and debris tumbling down as she looked over the precipice.

Nothing. Oblivion. End of the freaking world.

Looking forward, she couldn't see anything that even remotely resembled land, there was just… empty space. Picking up a small stone she threw it over and listened for the sound of it landing. It never came.

"_I'm… seeing things. It's like the road separated from the world itself! And that shadow just now… could they have fallen?"_ Murrue shook away the thoughts, not wanting to think about it.

Deciding this was a dead-end, she turned around and hoped this wasn't the only way out of this ghost town. She took to the sidewalk again, this time Murrue noticed something tall hiding behind the bushes and tall thin trees. Looking up revealed a large sign hiding amongst the mist. In her haste chasing after that shadow, and in this thick moisture that hovered in the air she had nearly missed it completely.

It was the old town billboard greeting visitors as they entered from the road that was now non-existent. Looking up at it she realized she had never heard of this place, but from the rusted aged look of the sign she could tell it must have been one of those old isolated peaceful towns. The sign itself wasn't anything fancy, just a simple brown sign with a large white font that read.

_**Welcome to Silent Hill.**_

_**___**_

_**A/N – UH OH!**_

Yeah… so… I kinda got really bored one night.


	2. NoWhere

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters are copyright their respected owners 'n whatnot.

* * *

Ch -02 -NoWhere-

He tried to hide from the world…the noises bothered him.

Neither here nor there, otherworldly, terrifyingly ethereal, never in all his years had he ever heard anything like this. Sounds that form pictures in your mind and cause you to see things that weren't there. Sounds that brought back childhood fears, of monsters under the bed and boogiemen in the closet. And even now as a grown man, he knew he was being childish as he let his imagination take root, he shouldn't fear anything he couldn't see. Not him, a commanding officer of Zaft.

But Arthur Trine couldn't help it- something about the noises got to him. He was genuinely afraid of something that he didn't even know was real or not, and now he tried to hide from the world in hopes that everything would go away.

He didn't know how he got here, only that he couldn't leave. Some strange building, a hotel or an apartment, he couldn't tell. Everything was so old and damaged that it would be better off being condemned. The carpeting in the hallways was all but worn away, the wood paneling stained and warped. Every single one of the doors were locked or completely broken, even the entrance was shut tight. The grimy windows would not open and no matter how hard he hit, no matter what he threw the glass would not shatter.

It was only after the sounds had started, the grinding, whispering, moaning sounds that danced in his skull, that he began to believe something was keeping him here. For what reason, he didn't want to know.

At one point he thought he had spotted a young girl walking the dark hallways. He chased after her thinking it could be Meyrin or possibly Lunamaria**_, _**only to find something so wholly terrifying that he could no longer keep his body from shaking or stand even the dark sight of the broken rooms around him.

"Where is… everyone? Where are you Captain?"

Now he hid, curled in a ball inside a dark closet mumbling to himself. Praying that the next time he opens his eyes, he would wake from this nightmare.

* * *

_"Silent hill? I've never heard of this place…"_ Murrue thought to herself as she studied the old town sign. In fact, she was pretty sure the Archangel wasn't near any towns at all. The last detail she remembers about the battle between the Archangel and the Minerva was that they were far up north. This town was quite warm, damp and humid, nowhere near any sort of arctic climate even if it were the middle of summer.

_"There's no way either ship could have traveled that far…"_

A sound brought her from her thoughts… that sound again.

"No! It can't… That was a dream!"

The one from her dream, the one that caused her skull to rattle and her muscles freeze. This time the sound stayed outside her head as it grew louder, no mind numbing pain as she tried to tell which direction it was coming from. The effect was the same however, as the siren ever so slowly grew to its peak then began to fade to a distant howl, the sunlight soon followed with it.

"This isn't real!" Murrue could not believe her eyes as she once again watched the world around her darken. The trees bending and twisting into blackened horrific shapes, even the grass began pale and die. The sign that once held a greeting became aged right in front of her, the paint peeling and cracking before turning to dust.

"This isn't a dream! What's happening to this place!?"

She took a step, stopping when the faithful sound of her feet hitting the pavement betrayed her. This time it sounded like she was walking on metal, and sure enough when she looked down the grey road was no longer there, replaced with frightening rusty grates and steel sheets. Eyes narrowed as she tried to look through a section of grating below her, all she saw was deep foreboding black.

Crackling static again, the same static she heard the first time this insanity had started. Her eyes snapped to the small radio clipped conveniently to her belt. Ignoring the fact she didn't remember placing it there she flicked on the flashlight. It didn't illuminate much, only a small halo in the dark contrast around her, but it was better then nothing. The fog had lightened she noticed, but now replaced by smoky clouds that billowed all around, doing nothing to help with visibility.

A different noise, this time it sounded like another pair of footsteps echoing out in the dark. She did not move, remembering the macabre images from her dream and holding back a cold shudder. The steps were out of sync, like whoever was walking had a terrible limp and was stumbling with each stride. Straining to see through the dark as a shadow appeared ahead of her on the metal road, she made out a human shape, but something was off… very off.

"Who's there? Come out where I can see you!" She called out in her commanding voice, hoping perhaps to scare off anyone whom might be planning to frighten a lone woman in the middle of nowhere.

Eyes went wide as the thing shambled forward into the halo of light the little radio was creating. She couldn't help but stare, the rubber texture of flesh that appeared both burnt and rotting. Skin stretched over what should have been arms, encasing the thing like a straight jacket against its will. Its head was shaped in an oddly familiar way, although the flesh like texture was blackened and grotesque, the face held a single red eye that seemed to be able to move to either side of its head as it tracked the woman in front of it. Pink fleshy tube-like structures grew out from the back of its head circled around the face disappearing into where the mouth should be.

If it weren't for the grotesque appearance Murrue would swear this thing's face was based off a Zaku Warrior.

It stumbled towards her, wet gurgling noises coming from… whatever those things on its face were. Something was seeping from pours on the rubbery skin, and as Murrue stepped backwards to keep a distance she could see how the black substance hissed and steamed as it touched the ground.

_"Acid!"_

The thing kept coming, backing Murrue closer and closer back to where the road ended into nothingness. She was unarmed, and didn't exactly want to go hand to hand with this thing if it was indeed dripping with acid. Looking around, her pickings were slim but to her luck she spotted something that could be useful. Quickly, she darted off into the dead grass and under the old town sign; there she found a suitable piece of wood that to her luck… had a nasty nail sticking out the end.

Military training didn't exactly cover combat by way of_ board with rusty nail,_ but it did teach how to improvise, and the best people in the world suited for improvisation were none other then field mechanics. Trying to fix a weapon of war in the middle of a battlefield with limited supplies? Yeah, you not only needed skill, but imagination as well.

Murrue did not hesitate as the hobbling thing shambled forward; she took a grip and swung with all her might. Her scrap of wood connected with an audible crack across the thing's head, the nail digging in deep as the black slime splattered off from the impact. The creature let out a shrill cry as it fell to the ground and writhed against its own constricting skin.

Not wanting to lose the only weapon she could find Murrue carefully stepped over the thing and tore her stick from its skull. Another shrill cry and the thing began twitching and shuddering on the ground, the same gurgling spats coming from its fleshy tubes. Murrue nearly tripped as the thing moved like lightning across the ground. It darted across the street pushing itself with its legs and sliding on its own acidic ichor.

Not wanting to get rushed by this thing she watched carefully as it darted from one direction to the next, until it suddenly pushed itself out her aura of light and into the darkness, disappearing. The gurgling sounds faded, signaling that it had run away.

"Holy… what…the hell! What the hell was that!" The thing was gone, though she was unsure if she actually just saw that or if she had gone out of her mind. She held up the piece of wood she hit it with, and watched as the nail lodged in the end fizzle away as the acid went to work. The rest of the wood was slowly being eaten away as well, turning into a soggy pulp.

She dropped it, seeing as it was no longer of use, then wondered what the hell she was going to do now. "I don't know where I am, I can't get into the Archangel and this town likes to switch between day and completely screwed up regularly." She took a couple steps down the road in the direction she thought she had come from; with everything looking rusted and broken it was hard to remember.

"There's a messed up acid dripping Zaku-Man crawling around out there somewhere now, and to top it all off there's no one else in this god forsaken town!" The tapping of feet on metal stopped as she came to a realization. "No one except Captain Gladys… I wonder if she's seeing things as well?" Murrue shook her head trying not to go any more crazy thinking on it. She quickly recalled that the other captain had a nice shiny gun, that's all that mattered right now.

She continued on her way, trying to figure out if she was backtracking to the little diner she woke up in, or simply walking in circles. Nothing looked the same; even the cars that were parked and abandoned on the side of the road were now reduced to corroded shells and fleshy lumps of something she didn't want to even think about. Murrue rounded the corner; glad to see she was indeed going in the right direction. The grocery she had run past when she followed that shadow was also worse for wear, matching the messed up look everything else was sporting.

She thought she heard something coming from inside the store, and ever so slowly approached the large display windows. Much to her annoyance the glass was covered in so much grime it was near impossible to see anything. That problem would go away however, as something smashed right through it.

She fell backwards, shielding her eyes with an arm as glass exploded around her. Thinking it was probably the Zaku-man again she scrambled to her feet and prepared to run, but instead of the awkward limping steps she heard the quick patter of something on four legs. She chanced a glance back, and then bit her tongue as she tried not to curse out loud.

A dog looked back at her. But it couldn't be an ordinary dog no- it had to be an eyeless skinless bloody dripping dog that looked like it ran under a lawnmower and lived. She didn't know if this was worse then the Zaku-man but she definitely wasn't sticking around to find out.

She got about a yard away when another skinless dog-thing ran out from an adjacent alleyway. She skidded to a halt as it stood in front of her with its head lowered, growling in menace.

"Ok… its just a dog… just a dog… just a …"

The first dog thing joined its companion, sniffing the air around it as it tried to get the scent of its prey. It paced around her while the other remained vigilant in its aggressive posture. Then it stopped, looked at her with a growl, and then opened its jaws- both sets of them.

Its head split apart from its muzzle as a flower would open in the sunlight. Though there was nothing nice and flowery about this thing, as rows of razor sharp teeth came into view, along with a long slime drenched tongue that writhed from the center of its throat.

"To hell with this!" Murrue said out loud, then without waiting rushed forward before this nasty thing could rush her first, and kicked it right in its split face before she took off in a run. The dog whined as it fell to the ground, not expecting to be on the receiving end of an attack. The other dog jerked away in surprise, then began its chase after the Archangel captain.

She ran blindly, the small flashlight barely illuminating the road in front of her. She could hear the tapping of nails as the skinless things ran after her, drawing closer. She didn't dare look back and just kept running as fast as she could. She smiled when she saw it, and praised whatever god of luck was on her side. Without even slowing down Murrue burst through the doors of the now rundown diner and quickly slammed them closed behind her.

She leaned against the door with all her weight and held it shut, it pounded against her back as the skinless dog-things tried relentlessly to get in after her. She prayed to herself that they wouldn't get smart and smash through the large windowpanes here as well. She cursed silently as the slamming got more and more intense; she didn't know how long she could hold them back or how long this degraded door could hold out.

Murrue looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, there was nothing. The dinner as a whole barely even resembled the one she first woke up in_. _Everything was in its spot, from the booths to the stools to the condiments on the table, but everything looked wrong! Instead of the clean atmosphere the whole thing was covered in a blanket of rust and decay, even the walls looked eroded to the point where plaster and wall paneling was eaten away until only wire grate held the everything together.

Not only was this place screwed up as well but also Captain Gladys - and that shiny handgun that would come in handy right about now - was nowhere to be seen. Murrue held on with all her strength, but she could hear the door begin to weaken and give way. She was about to give up and make a dash to the back of the dinner; maybe there was a way out there, when suddenly the slamming stopped. Just like that, everything went quiet.

Murrue did not dare move, wondering what had happened and why her new friends had stopped, until the familiar sound of that siren started up again. She watched in terrified fascination as the environment once again changed. Paint returned to the walls, the rust faded away, tainted wood and plaster looked like new again.

"What…" She took a step away from the door. "What?" She touched one of the tabletops, feeling the clean surface when only seconds ago it looked like someone had bled out onto it. "What!!" She put a hand to her face and sat down, slinking back into one of the booths not being able to believe what she was seeing or what was going on. "I've gone insane…"

Murrue looked back out, the light had returned and the pounding scratching sound of the dogs that had chased her had vanished. "Maybe… they only come out when everything goes all crazy?" She asked herself, and then decided to check to make sure. She walked back to the door, and after a moment to steel her nerves, cracked it open just enough to look out.

The coast was clear…

Opening the door more she took a step outside, no dogs, only the lonely grey fog. "Thank god." She sighed, grateful for the quiet of the abandoned streets for a change. She walked out into the street, looking around in hopes of finding a glimpse of Captain Gladys or where she could have gone. "I guess I'm still on my own, I should at least try to find my way back to the Arc-" Her little radio began to crackle again, and something in the back of her mind told her to turn around.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

It jumped out from behind the dumpster on the side of the street and began it's chase once more. The dog thing let out a slobbery growl as it leapt straight at her, Murrue managed to somehow dodge just in time but fell off balance and stumbled as the disgusting canine's body slammed into her awkwardly.

Both scrambled on the ground as they raced to see who would get to their feet first. In the process Murrue had begun making her way towards the dumpster the dog thing had come from. A handle of some sort sticking out had caught her eye, and now she prayed to whatever gods were listening that it would be useful enough to fend off her attacker.

Ignoring the sound of paws on the pavement getting closer by the second, Murrue's hands made contact with the handle, and without even thinking pulled it from the trash and swung around with all her might.

The dog thing whined as a bent and broken golf club made contact with its jaw, sending it sprawling backwards and onto the ground in a heap. Murrue did not wait for it to get back up; she pounced on this opportunity and cracked the club against its head again, and again, and again.

She ignored the pitiful cries of this messed up beast, she ignored the sickly black blood spattering everywhere, and she defiantly ignored the colourful profanities that were spewing from her own mouth as she did so.

Murrue only stopped when the bent shaft of her club snapped in two. Exhausted, she tossed it aside and looked down at the dead thing in front of her. It was defiantly dead, even though it looked dead before but now as its blood pooled under its crushed head it was really, really dead.

She took a step back from it, and then closed her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. So she was wrong about one thing, these monsters – or at least these dogs, are out here regardless if its day or that weird night. Her jaw clenched as she wondered if that Zaku-Man was still out here as well, shambling around or waiting to dart out from under some darkened spot.

A slight shuffling sound brought her from her thoughts, and that's when she remembered a very important detail. She opened her eyes and lazily turned her head to the right, where the second eyeless skinless dog thing stood patiently on the sidewalk. It was waiting for its companion to bring him a meal, but unfortunately now it would have to take matters into its own hands. Its split jaws separated in a slimy growl, and then it lunged.

"Oh for the love of…"

**Crack! Crack! Crack!**

Murrue flinched as three gunshots rang out. The dog thing hit the ground in front of her in a bloody heap and stayed there. Looking to where the gunshots came from revealed Captain Gladys, standing with her gun still trained on the creature just in case it was still alive. Satisfied when the thing didn't budge, Talia walked over to Murrue and inspected her handiwork.

"You alright?" The taller woman asked as she nudged the corpse with her foot.

"No, but thanks for the save anyway." Murrue then shook her head as she tried to refocus. "I thought you said you'd be waiting at the diner?"

"I was… but when everything went dark, honestly I didn't think you would be coming back."

Murrue froze, considering what she had just gone through the other Captain had a point. "So, you're seeing all this as well? Its not just me?"

"Not to sound like an ass, but I really wish it was just you." Talia said as she released her gun clip, checked it, and then pushed it back in. "I was heading towards the police station to see if I could grab some weapons or ammunition. I didn't make it very far before I heard the... dogs, I guess you could call them that. I did find this though, it was just laying at the end of a road." Talia fished a key from her pocket and handed it to Murrue.

She took it and examined the broken key chain hanging from it. The blue plastic had been snapped, leaving only the letters T E L in deep red. "Motel maybe?"

"Or hotel… " Talia shrugged. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say you ran into the edge of the world as well right?" She meant the broken and cracked roads that fell into nothingness. She sighed when Murrue nodded.

"The Archangel had a road leading to it when I first was there. But even if it still exists it won't do us any good, everything is shut down and the keypad to get back in was stolen somehow." Murrue said, still wondering how she managed to blackout in a warship and wake up in a diner.

"Great… Well I haven't found said hotel or motel yet so I may as well go with my original plan" Talia turned and began to walk away. "Well… you coming?" She added when she looked back to see her rival captain still staring at the dead thing.

Murrue snapped from her daydream. "You got the gun, you're the boss." Murrue held a mock salute then quickly caught up with the Minerva captain.

"Hey I'm only letting you because you're the only other person I've seen, and if I do recall you just killed one of those things yourself. Quite... brutally actually." Talia then noticed that her new companion was limping somewhat. "Hey, you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, woke up like this. Not sure what happened." Noting that Talia was in a somewhat better state of mind then the first time she met her, Murrue decided to pry a little herself. "Hey, um… did the Minerva… is it nearby?"

Talia's gaze fell to the road as they walked, a forlorn look falling over her. "I don't know. We were chasing you down when suddenly there was this… fog… I've never seen it so thick, or so high in the atmosphere it made no sense."

Talia's expression changed to absolutely confused as she remembered the incident, or at least tried to anyway. "Shortly after that everything went wrong. The Minerva was unresponsive and we started going down. The last thing I remember was seeing the ground… I don't remember the impact. When I woke up, I was… out in the street alone and… I thought I saw…"

"What did you see?" Murrue asked, wondering why the taller woman trailed off suddenly.

"My…" Talia paused, eyes pained as she tried to make sense of her own memory. "It was nothing, just a shadow."

Murrue let herself fall a pace behind and watched the other captain as she walked. Murrue knew when someone was keeping something back, but she didn't push the matter. She herself had seen a bucket-load of crazy recently; she didn't need Talia's worries as well.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Both watching the others back and keeping an eye on any adjacent alleyways that looked too dark for their own good. It wasn't long until they found what they were looking for.

"Silent Hill PD huh? Doesn't look very big, but then again this town doesn't look like it would be too noisy to begin with." Murrue noted as they passed by the abandoned police cruisers and they made their way to the front entrance of the Police Station. Murrue tried the door only to find it was locked. She pushed and pulled and hoped maybe she could pry it loose, but to no avail. "Damn it! Why is everything in this town either locked broken or trying to kill you!"

Talia shook her head then nudged her aside. "Here hold on to this, actually just keep it you'll probably make better use of it then me." Talia gave up her gun, pushing into Murrue's hands without second thought.

Murrue checked the clip, and then raised a brow at the other captain. "But… what about you?"

Talia simply smiled. "We're bound to find something useful in here, and besides..." She then turned her attention to the offending locked door, and let loose with a powerful kick. The door handle flew off, along with splintered wood and dust as the door exploded inward. "I never was a good shot."

Murrue simply rolled her eyes and sighed. "You ever think this whole war could have been avoided if you guys didn't show off as much?"

"Pfft, as if."

* * *

A/N – So Ramius has found a helpful companion… but how long will that last until the town decides to separate them again? Dun dun dunnnn….

…lol… zaku-man…


	3. Siam

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters are copyright their respected owners 'n whatnot.

* * *

Ch – 03 -Siam-

"Shinn? Rey? Come on this isn't funny anymore!"

Lunamaria called out as she cautiously walked down the darkened hallways of the Minerva. She was on standby in her mobile suit when things suddenly went haywire. Her cockpit went blank, all her screens went dead, and what sounded like a massive explosion rocked her around in her seat so hard she eventually blacked out.

Or at least she thought she blacked out, that's the only explanation she can come up with for her current situation.

She could only guess that it was hours later when she woke up, only to find upon exiting her ZakuWarrior that the place was abandoned. At first she thought someone was playing a trick on her, it wouldn't be the first time that Shinn had Lunamaria believing she had been left behind somewhere, or hiding on her when there was a power spike. But this time…

"I swear to god if you guys are trying to scare me again! And Meryin better not be in on this!" There was no answer, not from anyone. She checked the bridge, medical, and the mess hall. There was no one anywhere. She thought to herself maybe they've landed and they're all off ship somewhere, but as she tried to look outside through a port window all she could see was nothing. And not the nothing of space either, where at least the light of stars or the sun could still be seen. This was just simply… nothing.

Now she was really getting scared. Her attempts at pretending this was still some sort of practical joke were quickly failing. What if the ship had been ransacked while she was unconscious? What if she really was the only one left on board!

She turned a corner to the crewman's quarters and stopped outside of Shinn and Rey's room. If they were in there all this time she was going to throttle them until they turned blue! But, somehow, she just had a feeling that this room, just like all the others would be empty.

She hit the button, and the automatic door swished open. She stood there, not understanding what she was looking at. It wasn't a room that was for sure; the two separate bunks, locker and desks instead replaced by a narrow dark staircase. Rusty metal steps leading down into blackness that seemed to bleed out the longer she stared into it.

"What is this!" She screamed as she leaned in a bit, trying as hard as she could to see where the stairs led too. All she saw was the grotesque texture on the walls, and could hear what sounded like a heavy heart beat coming from down below. "What the hell is thi-"

Something grabbed her. She couldn't see it, but it was damp and fleshy and squeezed hard as it wrapped around her throat and pulled her in. There was no time to struggle; it pulled her in so fast the world around her blurred. Her muffled screams died out into the abyss.

* * *

The police station was nothing fancy. A little small, but probably the perfect size for a quaint town were the only trouble would come from a drunken local. It was bit messy, with papers and documents strewn about like someone was hastily looking for something and didn't care about putting stuff back. Murrue followed quietly behind Talia as she pushed her way through desks and paperwork, looking for wherever they stored their weapons.

Murrue found it by luck, opening what she thought was a closet, only to discover that it opened up into a larger room. Inside was tidy and proper, unlike the main offices. Night sticks bullet vests and helmets were all hung in order, and next to it was the weapons cage. Which, much to no surprise, was locked.

"Well I didn't think it would be opened to the public, but it was worth a shot." Talia growled as she fiddled with the cage door, pulling on it slightly just to test it out. The huge padlock did its job and no amount of pulling would do any good. Sure Talia was strong, but she wasn't _that_ strong. "Any ideas?"

"Well, either the police chief has the key or it's around here somewhere. May as well take a look around." Murrue said, already poking around some drawers and cabinets. Talia followed her example, digging through filing cabinets and emptying pencil holders hoping to find anything that resembled a key.

Murrue sifted through a stack of reports left behind by one of the police, one page caught her attention, as it stood out amongst the boring white of the other pages. This one looked stained and dirty, and for whatever reason she felt compelled to read it. It was a standard officers report, signed and dated by whoever had written it. Murrue noticed the date this was written was nearly twenty years ago, what would this be doing in a pile with more recent reports?

_Got another complaint from the locals again, about that weird orphanage. They keep complaining about odd noises at night, banging and other crap. We keep sending someone out but there's never anything wrong. Its not like they're hearing kids screaming, just sounds that could be coming from anywhere. There's nothing we can do about that, at least the kids looked happy enough, except for that one that was off on her own. Damn that kid gave me the creeps._

Murrue didn't bother reading the rest, wishing she hadn't looked in the first place. _"Great that's all we need. A creepy orphanage hiding somewhere in this messed up town."_ She thought to herself as she pushed the stack of reports back into place. Something in the middle of the pile slipped out though, falling to the ground in a clatter.

She bent down and picked up what looked like a small fishing weight, attached to it by a thin line was a crumpled piece of paper.

"That doesn't look like a key." Talia said disappointed, having turned around at the sound. She quickly dismissed her companion's find and returned to her own search.

Murrue on the other hand unfolded the paper, and furrowed her brow as she examined the sloppy writing. "Daniel has the key?"

"Daniel?" Talia's head snapped to attention when she heard the name.

"That's all it says." Murrue shrugged as she held the note.

Talia took the note from Murrue suddenly, and examined it herself. She flipped it over to make sure there was no writing on the other side, then stared at the lettering again. Eyes narrowing as she closely looked to the strange letters.

"Someone you know?" Murrue asked when she noticed the odd fascination the other captain had for a simple note.

"I… It's not important." Talia dropped the note back onto a desk. "And I don't think that's ink." She added as she took one last look at the dried red writing that looked and smelled more like blood. "In any case, Daniel…" The name seems to catch in her throat, and she had to cough before continuing. "…Obviously isn't here and neither is that key." Frustrated, Talia closed up the cabinet she was digging in and headed back out to the main building. "I'm going to check around the holding cells, maybe there's some ammo or something useful."

Not wanting to be left alone, Murrue quietly followed behind the taller woman, still a little concerned about the odd way she reacted to the note, yet not wanting to press her luck.

They entered the holding tank area consisting of two moderate size cells. Murrue noted that this area seemed quite clean compared to the rest of the place. Probably due to the fact this town was so quiet this place was only used for the occasional rowdy teenager.

Glass shattering nearly caused her to jump out of her skin and Murrue quickly turned around expecting to see some horror staring back at them. Instead she only saw Talia tearing a red fireaxe from its box off the wall.

"Its not a shotgun, but… It'll do." The Minerva captain said as she tested the weight of the axe, letting the sharp head rest on the ground. "Want to see if we can find this motel?"

Murrue sighed, not exactly wanting to go back out in that fog but they weren't going to find their crew sitting around here. "Yeah, may as well get-"

The building suddenly rumbled. Both women looked to each other to make sure they didn't imagine it. Another tremor, this one more violent that dust fell from the ceiling. Murrue reached for the wall for support, while Talia's grip tightened around the axe handle in her hands. One more rumble, followed by what sounded like a deep growl vibrated from back out in the main offices.

The little radio attached to Murrue's belt began to whine, the metallic crackling and distorted voices getting louder by the second. Murrue gasped, finally making the connection. Somehow this little radio reacted whenever something horrible was about to happen… or when something horrible was nearby. "Oh god no…"

Talia slowly started to back away from the door as heavy pounding began to get closer and closer. She took a quick look around, the Archangel captain doing the same – both looking for a way out. The only other way was a single small window, which was currently barred for security reasons. Their exit was the way they came in, and there was definitely something huge waiting on the other side.

Despite Talia taking up an impressive defensive stance with her fireaxe, Murrue pulled her back and stepped forward. The other captain looked at her strangely but then saw the gun in her hand and understood. Murrue raised the weapon and steadied herself, waiting for whatever it was that was coming for them.

The doors exploded inwards sending debris and bits clear into the holding area, the thing that came through was hulking and monstrous. The familiar fleshy scarred skin covering it, balancing on misshapen limbs, and a constant hollow rumbling emanating from deep inside its huge leather clad barrel chest. Its bottom half was almost human looking, save for the extra pair of legs that dangled from its lower back. It had somewhat normal yet stubby short legs, its torso bent over as it balanced on long arms that ended in massive club-like structures.

Its head however, at first glance resembled a long snout of some sort. But on closer inspection was really a horrid twisting of human arms tied together with some kind of black leather restraint. The hands and fingers disturbingly thrashing about at the ends like an insects feelers.

Murrue immediately regretted stepping out front, and wasn't even aware she had backed away and was now standing behind the taller captain once more.

The huge thing took a lumbering step forward, its hand like appendages reaching forward towards the two women, the long fingers feeling about eerily. It took a few moments to feel around in the direction of the two women, before rearing on its back stubby legs. With a trumpeting roar it began to charge forward.

The small desks and chairs in the room were blasted out the way and reduced to kindling as the creature charged through them like a rampaging rhino. Finally getting over the initial shock from just the size of this thing, the Archangel captain stepped out from behind Talia and opened fire. Three shots landing, one in the chest and two along its massive club arms. The thing hollered as blackish blood spattered from the wounds, but it didn't seem to care about the pain, only the two small women in front of it.

Talia had to push Murrue off to the side to avoid being trampled, then somehow rolled out the way in time as it stormed by them. It attempted to skid to a halt as it tried to turn around, but its momentum sent it careening into the cells, the steel bars bending from the combined force of the impact and the sheer weight of the monster itself.

Talia took this opportunity to attack, swinging the axe high and brining it down on one of the exposed arms. The axe dug in deep, black foul smelling ichor spilling everywhere. Realizing she was doing little to actually harm this thing, she pulled the axe out and swung it down onto one of its legs that it uses to walk. It howled out, bit still tried to get back up.

Gagging on the revolting smell of its blood, Talia came to the conclusion that her attacks were useless. This thing didn't just move like a rhino; its hide was just as thick. She pulled out her axe and started to run towards the door yelling for the other captain to do the same.

The thing finally got to its feet and bellowed as it began its stampede again. Murrue was the first out; making a beeline for the first exit she saw which just happened to be the back entrance to the station. Talia was next, having to sidestep out the way as the monstrosity caught up to her, missed her by an inch and took out whatever remained of the doorway.

Instead of stopping and taking out its rage on the one who injured it, the creature simply kept running forward. It smashed through anything in its way, be it desk, heavy metal cabinet, chairs and even the buildings solid concrete support pillars.

Murrue glanced back, ready to take up aim as the thing grew closer, but to her luck – or so she thought – the stupid thing stumbled as its collided with yet another pillar, bringing down tons of building down on top of it. She was tempted to laugh at it, until it roared again and recovered as if it just stubbed its toe on a stone.

"Ah hell!" Murrue swore as she continued stumbling her way through the desks and papers. She knew she would never make it, so with nothing left to lose she turned around, running backwards now, she aimed her weapon as steady she could. Taking caution not to hit Talia behind it, Murrue opened fire, emptying the remainder of her clip. One shot hit its mark somewhere around where its head should be. The monster slowed its pace and trumpeted out in pain.

Realizing she was out of ammo, Murrue used this small opportunity to put distance between herself and the beast. It may have slowed but it was still moving faster then she was, she would never make it to the exit in time. Talia saw this and decided to take action.

The Minerva captain tightened her grip on the fireaxe, took a breath, and then pushed herself into a rapid burst of speed. With a quick hop she leaped from a nearby desk and launched herself towards the brute. With a roar of her own the axe came down, digging into its back and causing more of the fetid black blood to spill.

Being on its back now Talia got a better look at it. The hands that were tied together continued down the monster, and the Minerva captain gasped as the shape actually looked like another person had been grafted onto the back of this thing. There was even a disturbing second face hiding under leather straps gasping for air!

She bit back a scream, this thing was just too unreal! She didn't have to look long thankfully, as the creature toppled over itself. Still holding onto the axe, Talia was thrown forward, her own momentum pulling her weapon from the beast but not before tearing a large gash in the monsters back.

By this time Murrue had made it outside, bursting through the doors out into the fog. There was nowhere to go, a chain link fence separating the station from the alleyways behind it blocked any chance of running away. Murrue heard the cries of the beast, and turned around to see both Talia and the monster trying to get up. She shouted out to her companion, trying to urge her to move faster. Talia managed to get to her feet first, but she was too dazed to notice the massive clubbed arm moving behind her. The creature swung in anger, knocking Talia clear off her feet and out the back entrance of the building. Murrue slid out the way in time as the other captain's body flew by, collided with the chain fence surrounding the building and then fell to the ground with a thud.

Murrue was immediately to her aid, making sure the Minerva captain wasn't severely injured. An angry roar from the beast grabbed their attention and only gave them more incentive to get the hell out of there. "Come on over the fence!" Murrue shouted as she helped Talia into a kneeling position, and then began to climb.

With a moan and a shake of her head, Talia quickly got back on her feet, threw her axe over the fence and then followed Murrue's lead as fast as she could. The sound of the beast's roars got louder as it continued its chase after them. It was far too big for the exit however, and as it tried to smash its way through, the already damaged building decided it could take no more. The horrid beast let out a final roar as tons of brick and concrete come down on top of it, stopping its rampage for good.

They collapsed on the other side of the fence, exhausted and shaking- and just slightly terrified- but glad that the creature inadvertently trapped itself while in its rage. Murrue was first to stand up, the sound from her radio slowly dieing down until it made no sound. She let out a sigh of relief. _'Dumb thing killed itself.'_

Looking to her companion who had once again saved her life, she held out a hand, which to her delight Talia took, and helped her to her feet. "You okay?" Murrue asked, worried that the blow she took was harder then it really looked.

"Yeah, just winded." The Taller woman replied as she leaned against the fence and tried to catch her breath.

_'Just winded? She was just knocked off her feet and thrown out a building and she's just winded? No wonder the blue cosmos is afraid of coordinators.'_ Murrue thinks to herself, shaking her head in envy as Talia seems to recover, looking no worse for wear.

Neither of them asked the obvious question. _'what the hell was that thing?'_ It was clear the best thing to do would be to forget it and move on. It was Murrue who did so first as she tried to lighten the mood and stop her hands from shaking. "So, are all of you made out of iron or is it just the crazy axe wielding maniacs?" She joked, while at the same time watching her friend for any sign of injury.

Talia laughed, hiding the pain that shot through her back that she no doubt thought would soon be the nastiest bruise she'll ever have. "Ok, let me quash that little natural theory right now." She sat on the edge of a recycling barrel for support before continuing. "We're not all born supermen as the Blue Cosmos seems to think. Yes, we have the potential to surpass human limits, but we're just like you, we have to work for it."

Murrue raises a brow as she gives her friend a look over. Talia may have been taller but she didn't look any different then any other female soldier. The only thing that Murrue could notice were her hands were a bit larger and her shoulders a tad broader then average, but that was it. "And I'm going to guess you worked for it?"

"Not really. When you join the military, the job sort of forces it on you." Talia replied, as she stood upright with a stretch, popping ligaments and vertebrae back into place.

"Well I've been through all that on earth and you don't see me kicking down doors or tackling giant monsters."

Talia hefted the axe over her shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, but you can still shoot straighter then me. It's a pity we couldn't find something for you with a little more power."

Murrue shrugged. "I say lets just try to avoid giant monsters from now on. Come on, lets get the hell out of here and find out where this T-E-L key goes."

Talia agrees and pushes herself off the barrel to continue on. She stops for a second, noticing something hiding just under an old newspaper. She reaches in and pulls out a small red box, her brow lifting in surprise as her mouth turns up in a grin. Surviving a near death experience and coming up with nothing, only to find what they were after in the most unlikely spot. She holds out the box towards Murrue and laughs. "Ammo?"

* * *

CRACK

Murrue flinched at every strike of the axe, the sound so loud she feared every creepy crawly in the town would soon be attracted too. Although the thing had died, Murrue's hands still shook whenever an image of the huge creature flashed in her memory. She desperately hoped that it was the only one of its kind running around out there.

It didn't take long, after leaving the police station behind them and following the road; they eventually saw the large sign pointing them in the direction of the Lakeview Hotel. Just like its name, it was down by the only edge of town that to their delight, didn't end with a cliff to nothing, but instead lead out to a calm lake. Toluca Lake, so the sign said, of Toluca County in which the town of Silent Hill was apparently part of.

It definitely sounded American, and now Murrue was faced with another worry, especially concerning her coordinator friend here. If they were to escape this madness, how long would it be before they eventually encountered Atlantic federation forces?

CRACK

Murrue tried to ignored Talia's assault on the door, staring out across the lake instead. She couldn't see very far out due to the fog, but the long stretch of road that passed out into it gave her hope. Hopefully, if they didn't find anything of use here the elevated road would take them completely across where they could try to make contact with friendly forces.

**CRACK**

Talia's powerful swings were doing its work, quickly rendering the heavy wooden doors of the hotel into firewood. Despite being relatively small, the building itself was quite lovely, like an old fashioned place you'd see in old American gangster films. It was almost a shame to see the Minerva captain literally destroy the old carved and decorated oak doors, but they weren't about to sit around out here and test their luck should that 'darkness' return.

With a final swing one of the doors finally gave in, the wood splintering as the head of the axe disappeared to the inside. Murrue took over; her smaller hands able to reach inside and pull the hole open just big enough for them to fit through.

It was dark, what little light filtered through came from grimy windows and the hole in the door they just created. Just like everywhere else they've been, the hotel looked like it had been abandoned for a long while. A layer of dust covered everything, and the distinct smell of old air and mildew was apparent.

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust but only seconds for their noses to rebel.

Talia sneezed while Murrue cleared her throat of the dust that was stirred up by their feet. It nearly choked them, and they were quite glad to see it was only because they were on the old lobby carpeting. Both stepped off to the side and onto the creaking hardwood floors, still covered in dust, but less likely to be thrown into the air.

Looking around the lobby was small, a staircase leading on the right and the elevator on the left. The service desk lay right in the middle, a small somewhat damaged chandelier hanging over it precariously.

Talia braved the dust and searched behind the desk, finding the key rack with similar blue key-chains hanging from it. She looks down as her foot hits something hard, bending down she picks up what she was looking for.

She pulls her key from her pocket, and begins to fit the two pieces of plastic together, smiling as they slot together seamlessly.

"LakeView Hotel" she reads out to her companion. "Room 213." It said on the other side. "Should we bother? Or are we just following this because there really isn't anything else to do?"

Murrue thinks about it for a second, that was a very good question. Why were they here? What had compelled the both of them to look into a key that was found in the middle of the street? She shook her head. "No, something strange is going on, something that can't be explained right now. We should… we need to check it out at least. Lets take the stairs, I doubt that elevator is working anyway."

Talia dwells on her answer for a moment. She couldn't exactly be called old fashioned; she had not grown up on earth and was not familiar with some of their beliefs. She didn't believe in superstition, planned destinies or coincidence. She liked to think she was in control of her own life, her own choices. If your not paying attention when the light is red and a truck is coming, it's your own fault. There was no pre determined plan, no string of fate. If you're stopped when the light is red but the trucks brakes fail… well then, sucks to be you. _Wrong place wrong time. Right place right time_. That's all it was. Time and luck.

But now she was starting to think differently. Now, as she walked closely behind her once enemy heading to the second floor in an old broken down hotel - wondering if some horror will barge out from behind the broken doors - she began to wonder if perhaps something _had_ brought them here. And she knew the Archangel captain was starting to feel the same.

Nothing added up, the fog, both ships crashing and nowhere to be seen. Waking up alone with not one sighting of their crewmates. These creatures running about, especially that last rampaging monster. Then there was the darkness, that, otherworld. She didn't even want to think about it. Along with that, Talia couldn't shake the feeling that they were being led along somewhere, somehow. They may have only found two so far, but these subtle clues just didn't sit right with her. First the key just sitting out in the open on the road, then that note in the Police station, and now here…

A shiver ran down her spine as her mind kept going to darker and darker places.

"Second floor, door's already opened." Murrue said, pulling Talia from her thoughts. "Be glad we're not going to the third, looks like part of the floor collapsed." She motions up the next flight of stairs that were completely blocked off with rubble.

Murrue carefully looks through the second floor entrance, gun out and checking her corners like a good soldier should. With nothing out of the ordinary she motions Talia to follow and begins looking for the room they need.

Many of the doors have suffered damage, some by water, others fire and some were missing altogether. It only made the task of reading the room numbers more annoying. Eventually they were able to find 209, then 211 until they rounded a corner where 212 and 213 should be only to come face to face with a huge barricade of beds, dressing tables and other things you would find in hotel rooms.

"I don't like the feeling of this." Talia said as she pushed at the debris. It was solid, not budging one bit. "This looks like a bulldozer pushed this stuff here, not human hands." Murrue nodded in agreement as she tried to look through a small pocket to the other side.

"Wait, there's another 211 over there, we may be able to go around." She backtracked around the corner to the first door that read 211. She wiped her hand across a tarnished plate on the doorfront that she missed the first time around. It read _Rec Room\Dance Studio. _Not really caring what it was, she pushed open the door and walked in, and immediately hated it.

The room was large and open, and one side of it was completely covered in mirrors. Murrue slowly walked through it, Talia close behind her, both staring into the reflections. Murrue had nothing against mirrors, but in this light, in this room in particular their images staring back at them looked… Wrong.

Murrue couldn't help but lock eyes with herself; she looked so pale and seemed to carry a sinister looking scowl that no matter what she did, did not leave the reflection in the mirror. And the eyes… her eyes, they were so cold, piercing right through her. She managed to tear away her gaze long enough to reach the other side, and gladly exited the studio.

"Here, you can do the honors" Talia said, unintentionally startling Murrue as she handed her the key.

Murrue took it, and taking one last look to make sure the Minerva captain was behind her and ready, she pushed the key in and turned it. The door unlocked with a soft click and both slowly entered room 213.

The room was darkened, darker then the hallways. The drapes were closed shut while furniture was strewn about like it had been moved with no real purpose in mind. A terrible scream assaulted their ears; Talia was the first to react.

Coordinator reflexes kicked in. One hand shot out and tightly gripped the wrist and stopping whomever it was that was about to smash a chair over captain Ramius. While the other hand caught Murrue's fist, stopping it with a hard smack against her palm before the woman could knock someone's teeth out.

Both parties stared at each other for a second as they each caught their respected breaths. Poor Talia caught in between, grateful she was able to stop them before someone got hurt.

"Who… who's are you? You feel… normal." Said a distinctive British accent, one Talia recognized all to well.

"Arthur?" She asked, and – while still holding tightly onto his wrist – pulled him into the light coming from the hallway. That strange green hair and mousy face came into view, it was definitely him.

"Captain!?" Talia's second in command immediately dropped the chair he was holding, a huge smile replacing the terrified look he was just wearing. "It is you? Its really you?" He said almost hysterically as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight bear-hug.

"Arthur…"

"Oh captain, what's wrong with this place? Try as I might I couldn't get out!" He held on to her like a lost child, only squeezing tighter when she tried to peel him away.

"Arthur."

"And there was this huuuge thing! I didn't get a good look at it because I ran like hell but it was…"

"Commander Trine!!" Talia bellowed.

"Ah!?" Arthur realized what he was doing, becoming fully aware that he currently was embracing his commanding officer in a very embarrassing, if not ridiculous, way. "Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" He released her immediately, then backed away and stood at attention.

Talia sighed and waved him at ease. Trine may be a little eccentric at times but she was genuinely glad to see him unharmed. "Its alright. Just tell us what happened and how you ended up here." He was about to start, taking in a deep breath. Talia had to raise her hand stopping him before a word was said. "Slowly."

"Well… actually." He said with a bit more composure. "I was hoping you could tell me."

* * *

A/N: RAWR MONSTAH! Even if it's just the one :3 . There will be more next chapter that's for sure. Btw Siam is the name of the monster from silent hill homecoming. I didn't describe it down to a T, mostly because that thing looks really messed up o_o and I probably wouldn't be able to anyway.

The next big encounter should poke the plot a little bit… finally.

Also, sorry if Talia's coming off as a bit of a tank, but, I'm writing this with video games in mind, so yes… Talia is the melee tank character while Murrue is more of the ranged agile one. But then Talia is a coordinator, and a military captain, and a mum… I think that would make a tank out of anyone. :P


	4. Daniel

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters are copyright their respected owners 'n whatnot.

A/N - Ever so slight AU just for crossover reasons.

* * *

Ch-04 -Daniel-

"Let me guess." Talia sighed, growing more annoyed with this place the longer they stayed here. "You can't remember a thing?"

Arthur shied away embarrassed. "No ma'am, all I remember was the crash, then this hotel." He scratched at his head trying to come up with a better explanation for his captain, and then it hit him. "Wait how did you manage to open the door? I locked it from inside."

Talia turned her head and pointed to her companion. "She had a key." Her eyes stayed fixed on Murrue's, both of them clearly thinking the same thing. Of all the rooms in this building, why would the key lead to _this_ one in particular? And of all the odds just happens to be the one Talia's second in command has been hiding in all this time.

Arthur wasn't thinking that in the least, he was just glad to the powers that be that someone had found him. He examined whom his captain had pointed to, and quickly recognized the pretty woman he had met in the Orb Docks. An unpleasant memory came back to him, and his hand unconsciously went to his arm where is captain had pinched him rather hard for… staring. "Wait… aren't you?"

"Yes this is Captain Ramius." Talia confirmed his suspicions. "But forget about protocol right now Trine, lets just find out what the heck is going on."

Murrue nodded at that then stepped forward. "I agree, so for the time being…" She held out her hand politely. "Hello, I'm Captain Murrue Ramius of the Archangel."

Trine looked to his captain first before accepting her hand. Even if he didn't understand what was going on he didn't exactly want to get into any more trouble by socializing with the enemy. "Arthur Trine, second in command to Captain Gladys here. Um… you wouldn't happen to know the way out of here would you? I've been trapped in this place since I woke up."

"Well, your Captain here grizzly bear'd the front entrance… why didn't you just do the same?" Murrue said as she looked to the strange green haired man in front of her. He may not have been a prime male specimen, he was definitely no Mwu, but he did at least look capable.

"What? But I've tried! I've even resorted to smashing chairs against the windows but it wouldn't even leave a scratch!" He wrapped his arms around himself as a cold feeling fell over him. "It was like something was trying to keep me here. I-I couldn't get out."

Both women fell silent and looked to each other. Perhaps coming here wasn't the best idea after all.

"I did find this though maybe you have a use for it." Arthur dug around in his pockets and procured a long chain. On closer inspection it was a soldiers dog tags, but they were covered in a hard white, almost cement-like substance that the owners name and rank were unreadable. There was also another key looped along with the tags; it had no markings on it however. "I thought I heard Lunamaria's voice, but instead…" He shook his head unable to continue for a moment. " I ended up knocking over an urn when I ran from…" Again he paused and visibly shivered as he tried to explain. "Something terrible. This was inside it."

Talia assumed that 'something terrible' was another creature like the ones they've encountered. She tried not to think about it, taking the tags from Arthur and inspecting them before handing them to Murrue. "They're not Zaft tags."

Murrue brought them into the little light her pocket radio was emitting. "Hmm, well, the key isn't marked and I don't exactly want to check every single door in this hotel." She pocketed them and then decided it was time to move on. "We probably should just try to find the Archangel, or even the Minerva and try to contact anyone. Maybe we'll find more crewmates along the way." Murrue then motioned for the door. "Lets get out of here first, this place gives me the creeps."

"Uh… you mean… out there?" Arthur's face paled suddenly. He squeaked when Talia grabbed his arm tightly and nearly tossed him out into the dark hall, she then followed behind Captain Ramius.

Arthur immediately ran into the little halo of light Murrue's pocket flashlight was giving off and stayed there. His eyes darted around in the dark as if looking for something specific. Murrue noticed this, and while carefully keeping him in the light, approached him.

"You said you saw something terrible?" After the creature in the police station she knew she was going to regret asking this. "What exactly did you see?"

Arthur looked at her for a moment, his eyes in the light suddenly looking terrified as he recalled his experience. "It was… I don't know it was big, had this strange thing on its head like a helmet, it was also dragging something large behind it. I-I didn't stay around to see anymore I just ran."

He looked to the ground ashamed at how he was acting, unable to control his own trembling. Very unlike a proud Zaft officer at all, he thought. "I'm sorry I know I'm not exactly making the best impression right now…"

"It's alright." She put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "You should have seen what your Captain and I ran into… hours later and I was still shaking." She left out the part where Talia axed the thing in the back, not exactly wanting to bruise his ego any more then it was already. "Don't worry, we just have to pass through this room and hit some stairs and we'll be out of here." She pointed to the dance studio, holding back a laugh when Arthur quickly forgot about the light and headed right towards it.

"See. He can be brave." Talia said as she came up next to Murrue and then added flatly. "When he wants to be." She placed a hand on her friends shoulder as Murrue laughed, quickly withdrawing it as a sharp pain hit her.

"Ouch" Talia said quietly, shaking her hand in the air by her side.

"Something wrong?" Murrue asked noticing the way the other captain was trying to conceal it, now concerned her axe-wielding friend may have been hiding an injury.

Talia chuckled. "No, but you've got a solid right fist."

"Sorry…"

* * *

A groan escaped from Lunamaria's throat as the world came back to her. She felt strange, she could barely move and her head felt like it was about to explode any minute. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted doing so. The room was dark and damp; she could hear the sound of water dripping from somewhere. There was also the sound of something moving, or rather something slimy slithering around.

Her fogged senses cleared somewhat, and she realized the throbbing in her skull was the result of being upside down, she tried to move her arms but they were stuck tight against her sides. She craned her neck as far as her constraints would allow, she looked up – or down – depending on the perspective, to see that she was cocooned in a fleshy like substance that was currently hanging from the ceiling.

"What… the hell happened?"

She remembered waking up on the _Minerva_ alone and scared, no one anywhere. She went to Shinn and Rey's room to see if there was any sign of them, but all she saw was… dark. "That dark stairwell in their room, and then something grabbed me? Oh ew what is this!"

She struggled against the strong yet slightly stretchy substance, only causing her entire body to swing. The more strength she put into her efforts the stronger the organic growth seemed to get.

"Luna, don't struggle."

A familiar voice caused her to stop trying to free herself, one she's heard a thousand times when she was around her Zaku Warrior. "Vino? Is that you?" Lunamaria twisted herself as best she could, trying to face where the voice had come from.

"Yes but please don't struggle, you'll only get its attention." The young tech said from his spot.

Luna ignored him somewhat, turning more gently to get a view of the Minerva's young tech wiz. She managed to get a good look around in the process, they were in a large basement of sorts, but there was the same disgusting fleshy growths spreading across the walls and floor as well. Finally she spotted him, barely, only part of his face and his fiery red and orange hair could be seen from behind the organic substance holding him to the wall.

"Get what's attention? What is this stuff?" She asked.

"I don't know. Rey was in here as well when I got pulled in. We tried to make our escape when… I don't know what it was. But something grabbed him and pulled him away. It sounded big."

"Have you seen Shinn, or even the captain?"

"No, just Rey and you. I thought I heard Shinn's voice but… I... I just don't know." The young man sounded scared, and with good reason. "The more you struggle, the faster your going end up covered like me, just… sit tight."

"Sit tight? That's easy for you to say I can't just hang here forever! There's got to be something we can do." Luna protested, not exactly enjoying her position or this entire mess she somehow got sucked into.

"We wait…" Vino whispered just loud enough for her to hear. "And hope someone finds us soon."

* * *

Arthur was waiting by 211, not wanting to go any further alone. Murrue was the one to open the door and enter first into the mirrored room. The layout to the studio was the same, but now the wall texture had a different look to it. It wasn't metal and blood thankfully, but it was as if someone came through here and spattered mud and dirt all over the walls.

"What the hell, this wasn't like this when we first came through right?" she said to those supposedly behind her, but received no answer.

Murrue quickly turned around, the door was closed and she didn't remember doing so. "Hey, guys?" She grabbed the door handle but it would not budge, the door had somehow sealed shut behind her and was now locked tight. She swore under her breath as she pulled against it to no avail, she didn't like the look of this at all. "Hey, can you two hear me out there?!"

Again no answer, seeing as how this was getting her nowhere she turned back to the room, intent on checking the exit from the other side. Instead she got a good look into the mirrors, and froze dead in her spot.

She saw herself, reflecting in the large pane of glass as any other mirror would do. But along with her stood the Minerva Captain, staring straight at her with pale eyes, the familiar axe cradled in both hands.

Murrue scanned the room behind her over and over. There was no one else in here with her yet in the mirror were two very visible reflections. Talia's double tore its gaze away from the rival captain, slowly turning its head towards Murrue's reflection instead. The cold eyes turned back to the real Murrue, followed by a spine tingling eerie smirk as it took a step, leisurely, towards the other woman in the mirror, raising the axe at the same time.

Murrue couldn't fathom what was going on, but as Talia's doppelganger swung its weapon at her reflection the _Archangel _captain reacted on instinct. Leaping back just in time, she felt a swift gust of wind against her abdomen, looking down she noticed a long gash had been torn into her uniform.

She gasped aloud, her hand going to her stomach to make sure she had not been gutted. Whatever was happening in that mirror was happening to her! Yet there was nothing standing in front of her at all! How could this be happening?!

Talia's reflection swung again, faster this time that Murrue was unable to completely avoid it. The axe grazed her upper left arm, cutting through the layers of her uniform and slicing deep into skin. Murrue cried out as her warm blood quickly stained her sleeve. She managed to keep her focus on the mirror, watching the double's movements while clutching her arm to stem the flow of blood.

Murrue tried to back away, keeping keen eyes on her mirror self just in time to see Talia readying the axe once again. She acted this time, bringing her handgun up and opening fire directly in front of her where her attacker – relative to the mirror - should be. To her horror the bullets hit the door and wall harmlessly, not even fazing her aggressor in the mirror one bit. The cold expression on Talia's face cracked as a grin widened, amused at Murrue's attempt to save herself.

Panic struck the _Archangel_ captain as her back hit the wall; all the while Talia's doppelganger pressed its assault, bringing the axe down again. Murrue, thinking she was trapped, closed her eyes and turned her head only to hear the loud thud of something hitting hard into wood. When she opened them again she saw a large chunk missing from the wall, just centimetres from her neck.

Looking back into the mirror the other woman looked like she was struggling, the weapon had dug too deep into the burnished wood and was now stuck tight. Murrue slipped away and used this opportunity to put some distance between… whatever invisible force was in here with her.

Murrue pulled out her gun again and aimed in front of her, towards the gash in the wall. Her eyes shifted between the mirror and the empty room in front of her while she aimed, watching as the _Minerva_ captain look-a-like strained to free the fireaxe. Murrue's hands began to tremble as her mind took in this nightmare, how could a mirror physically attack her? How can she defend herself from something that she couldn't even see!

'_Wait a minute…_'

Realization hit her. '_I __**can**__ see it!'_

Murrue looked back to the mirror, really looking this time. The double in the mirror had yet to even look at _her_ again since this whole thing started. "_It's not really attacking me, it's going after my own reflection!" _It was so simple now, how did she not think of it sooner? At any rate, she didn't need to think on it anymore, the doppelganger had freed its weapon and was coming at her again and fast. The _Archangel_ Captain changed her aim from the empty room in front of her to the deranged entity, and opened fire on the mirror image before it could bring the axe down once more.

There was a horrendous inhumanly high-pitched scream as the glass shattered into dust. Talia – the real Talia, fell out from behind it, crumpling to the floor and gasping for air. The door behind Murrue simultaneously shot open, revealing a distraught Arthur Trine as he nearly stumbled over the now kneeling Murrue.

"Don't ever leave me alone like that again, please!" He pleaded, and then noticed the _Archangel _captain's terrified look and wounded arm. "What… what's going on?" He asked as he saw her gun still raised, the arm shaking violently. Arthur then saw his captain huddled on the floor shivering. He cried out her named as he rushed towards her, ignoring the shaking Murrue who still had her gun trained where the mirrors once stood.

Talia shook on the floor where she lay half frozen. Arthur saw she was covered in a light frost, condensation escaping her mouth as if she had just been somewhere very cold.

Murrue accepting that this wasn't some creature from the mirror, finally released a breath she did not realize she had been holding. "What the hell just happened?!" She exclaimed as she approached the two of them.

Talia simply tried to get to her feet, mumbling something about the dark and the cold. Both Arthur and Murrue helped her up, wiping off bits of frost and ice from her crisp near frozen uniform.

Talia swore many a slurred profanity through chattering teeth. The cold chill ran straight to her bones and made it hard to even move. "I was right behind you when everything went black… it was so cold… so cold…" Talia looked up, and saw the blood stained arm of her companion. "W-what the hell happened to you?" She looked down at the crunch of glass under her feet. "What the hell happened in here?"

Murrue grabbed her wounded arm, hoping the cut wasn't too deep. "Honestly, I think you're better off not knowing." She placed her weapon back into her jacket, and shakily got to her feet. "I just want out."

The two of them helped the_ Minerva _Captain to her feet and made a dash for the hallway. Talia was the first to swear this time, as even in her half frozen state could tell that something was definitely wrong with the building. "Not again…"

"What… what's wrong?" Arthur worried at his captain's outburst, unaware of the changes to the hallway. The degradation had spread from the mirror room.

Murrue ran on ahead, a feeling in her gut telling her that was the least of her troubles. She rushed down to the end of the hallway where they had came in, and leaned her hands against a bare wall. There was no door leading to the stairs, just a plane wall. The way they came in was now gone.

"We're not in the same hotel anymore." She said, leaning her head against the wall in exhaustion as a familiar sound started to sing out.

"What... is that?" Arthur whispered as the siren sang its song, he then clung closer to his captain as the world began to change around him. Wood turned to metal grating, metal turned to rust, what little light there was vanished until they could barely see in front of them. Small pockets from the windows only caused the shadows to move about like living things scurrying in the dark.

Arthur clung even tighter to his superior as he witnessed the change. "What's going on? Where did we go if this isn't the same hotel?"

Murrue simply turned around, facing the man as she leaned against the wall. She ignored the bloody tinge that grew out from behind her, placing her hand into her coat and bringing out her pistol once more.

"No where."

* * *

Luna was panicking now, the creeping flesh was starting to work its way up her cheeks going ever so closer to smother her mouth and nose. The sound of that siren didn't help at all, and the growing darkness only caused shapes to dance around in the dark places of her mind.

Her struggling, against Vino's warnings, paid off. Her hands somehow managed to reach her jacket pockets, where she was able to pull out her small utility knife. A bit of careful maneuvering and the blade was out, and ever so slowly cutting into the fleshy substance that held her in place.

She took her time, terrified that she may drop the knife should she grow impatient. Every puncture into the substance drew blood, or what felt like blood at least. It was warm and sticky and had a foul smell to it, an almost sickly sweet scent that made Luna gag more then once. Finally, enough had been cut away that gravity did the rest. Luna's weight caused the growth to tear open and she fell to the covered ground.

"Don't move I'll get you out of here." She said, as she started closer to the mechanic, not noticing that he had gone strangely quiet, or that he wouldn't make eye contact with her. She knelt down, preparing to cut away and free her friend when something grabbed her leg. She looked down to see that fleshy-corded vine again, slithering up her leg and seconds later pulled her away.

She screamed as nails dug into the floor as she was pulled across the room, she rolled onto her back to see where it was taking her, all she saw before hitting the wall were a pair of huge mechanical green eyes.

Everything had gone quiet again, just the way the room liked it to be. Vino turned his head following the path were she vanished, and let out a sigh. "I tried to warn you… don't struggle I said, but you didn't listen. You only made it mad. Its your own fault, you get to play with the boogieman now Luna." Vino began to laugh as the last of his features disappeared under the organic growth, silencing him forever.

* * *

"What do you mean _NoWhere_?" Arthur was visibly shaking now. "I thought you said this was the way out!"

"Arthur calm down." Talia tried to get him to snap out of this panic he was starting to get into, but he pulled away sharply looking at the two of them like they were trying to kill him.

"No, this is all your fault!" He pointed at Captain Ramius with a trembling hand. "I was safe in my room, why would you bring me out here!"

Talia was quickly losing her patience with him. This was not how her second in command acted around her at all. "Commander Trine! Enough!" She bellowed in her captain's voice. It seemed to work, as Arthur stopped his ranting and looked to his superior. He stared at her, his eyes that were wide with fright looked like they were beginning to calm, but then something else filled the silence.

A great moan so very deep rumbled in the dark. It echoed through the hallways seeming to come from every direction at once. Arthur froze in place as he listened; he had heard this before, and did not ever hope to hear it again. His head fell into his hands, fingers pulling at his green strands of hair. "That's it! It's coming back, it's coming back for me!" He began to panic suddenly, irrationally, as if some other force was causing him to become terrified.

Talia had never seen him like this, yes Arthur could be a spaz sometimes, but he had never lost control like this. "Trine get a hold of yourself!"

He wasn't listening, or couldn't hear her. He shook his head left and right, closing his eyes and covering his ears trying to block out the sound. "No, it's coming for me! I wont… I WON'T LET IT!" He shouted before pushing his captain aside and running off back where they had come from.

"No! Come back!" They both shouted after him. They were about to chase after him when he rounded the corner, leaving behind only a scream. Both women stopped for a moment, then, ever so slowly followed his path. They carefully followed where he had gone, only to see nothing but an empty hallway leading to a dead end. Murrue used her small flashlight to look around in the dark; there were no doors or windows he could have gone through.

Arthur had vanished.

"Where did he…" Talia whispered as she stared at the empty hall. Arthur may have been her subordinate, but he was also her close friend. How could he just disappear like that… what caused him to scream?

The great moan echoed again, closer this time. Both of them backed away from the hallway Trine had vanished from and continued on. As much as Talia wanted to search for her friend, there wasn't really anywhere to look. The man had simply vanished from existence it seemed.

They turned down a hall that led to a bigger area, an intersection of two hallways. They could see the emergency stairs on one end but there was no way they would get to it, again a barrier of debris blocked them. It was only waist high, but the floor around it was rotted away to the point you could see below, well enough to sway an idea of climbing over.

The deep sound rumbled again, closer, it was coming down the connecting hall on the other side of the blockage. Murrue's radio began crackling madly signalling that the one making the deep sound was coming down as well, its footsteps shaking the entire hallway as it got closer.

There was nowhere to run, their escape had been blocked, and the previous way out had disappeared all together. All they could do was hide. Talia pulled Murrue down behind a toppled dresser and out of sight as something passed by on the other side of the barrier. Both stared as the room began to shake with every step they heard. Then they saw it, a monster, not human, something demonic.

It was huge, tall and thick lean muscle that ran down its arms. The rest of its body that was visible was the same, and despite the powerful physique it had a female shape to it. The upper body covered by a blood-soaked shirt of some type, one of the arms was torn and shredded at the shoulder. It lumbered along with each heavy step, legs hidden by a torn and ripped skirt-like fabric that dragged behind. The most notable thing about it though was its head, or rather the huge metallic rust colored helmet. It was shaped almost _pyramid_ like, with one end stretched forward into a long point.

Murrue couldn't help it; she broke cover and stared as the thing walked by, trying to understand what it was. Despite the demented nature of everything about it, there was something oddly familiar radiating from it. "_What is this feeling? I've never seen anything like this before! But…" _She continued to stare as it came ever closer into view, now she could see finer details. The horrible blood tainted skin, the rough texture of the metal helmet, and what caused her to gasp aloud, were the distinct markings of an earth alliance uniform.

There was no doubt about it, from the shredded red collar that disappeared under that bizarre mask, the black epaulets that stood out amongst the stained white of the rest of the uniform.

It stopped suddenly, almost robotically. Its head then began to turn ever so slowly, the point of that helmet locking in Murrue's direction. The captain's blood froze, there were no eyeholes in that pyramid-like mask but it felt like this thing was looking right at her, through her. Strangely enough it didn't seem to care about the two hiding just across the barrier of debris. The head turned back to the direction it was going, and the thing continued on its way.

That's when they saw what it was carrying. In one hand something indescribable. Resembling more like a bloodied clump of butchered meat, it left a bloodstained trail as it dragged across the ground. Talia let out a sharp gasp as she saw familiar shreds of red fabric trailing in that disgusting trail.

In its other hand dragged a massively long butcher knife, a sword would be a more appropriate description but it was so overly gigantic that even the monstrous thing wielding it could only drag it slowly from the handle.

Both of them exhaled as it disappeared from view, glad that... THING... decided they weren't worth the trouble.

"You saw that … right? Because it looked right at you!" Talia said hysterically as this place tried to drive her ever closer to madness.

"Yeah. I wish I hadn't…"

Both nearly jumped from their skin as a rusted door just behind them slammed open by some unseen force. Talia looked to Murrue, who in turn nodded for her to check it out. Axe ever ready she cautiously walked closer then looked into the room. She nearly dropped her weapon as her eyes fixed on the person standing in the dark.

She took a step forward, the monster and the strange degraded hotel around her suddenly forgotten. "Daniel? How… what are you doing here?" She asked as she took a step towards the small boy standing deep inside. She was so engrossed with the sight of him that she didn't even notice the strange bug-like creatures that skittered around her boots and out into the hallway.

"Daniel… Danny. Don't move I'll come get you." Talia said as she inched forward.

_Daniel? This is Daniel? _Murrue thought, as she looked the small boy over. Matching blond hair, grey-blue eyes. _Why didn't she tell me?_

Talia gently placed her weapon on the floor, trying to coerce the young boy towards her. "Come on it's not safe, I'll get you out of here." Talia continued to inch forward, the boy only ignoring her pleas and her outstretched hands.

The floor under began to creak in protest. She stopped at the sound and watched as dust began to rise around her boots. Before she even had a chance to react the floor beneath her crumbled away, a massive hole growing outwards stopping just at the edge of the room and directly in front the boy. With a last second leap she managed to grab hold of the edge. Above her was Daniel, who simply stared down at Talia with a blank expression. Below her was nothing, just darkness.

"Hang on Talia!" Murrue shouted from the other side, unable to do anything but watch.

Talia struggled to hold on; every time she tried to pull herself up what was left of the brittle floor would crack away. She looked up to the boy inches from her, and held out her hand. "Danny… please. Don't let me fall."

But the boy did not even register that she had spoken to him, he just stood there and watched until the wood under Talia's grip tore away, sending her down into the blackness.

The boy, looked away from the gaping hole across to the _Archangel _Captain with the same unchanged expression. "The boogieman wants to speak with you" he said quietly, and then tossed something across the gap. Murrue still in shock at the loss of her friend, just barely caught it. It was a stone wrapped in parchment, opening it revealed an address. "What is this?" She said, looking back up to the boy only to see that he was gone as well.

"_Daniel has the key…"_ she said as she read over the address, what little good it did her trapped in this place. "What do I do now?"

* * *

A/N

She's not dead. Haven't decided about the others though _

They never did reveal Talia's son's name right?

*sigh* I've lost my muse. I hope this is at least partially legible.

This is pretty much for Kookith who insists I keep on writing this silliness :P

I hope you like the Pyramid monster, I'm pretty sure you can figure it out.

Oh yeah this is in the crossover section now. It's a bit confusing in here. O_o


	5. Face

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all its characters are copyright their respected owners 'n whatnot.

A/N - Ever so slight AU just for crossover reasons.

* * *

CH-05- Face

An address.

Numbers scrawled across the surface of a crumpled piece of dirty paper. Dark ink. No, not ink. She doesn't want to know what the ink is.

564 Levin Street.

Where the hell was Levin Street?

Murrue's eyes shifted over the address in her hands, she didn't understand why this boy would give her such a thing, or what possible means could come of it. But if anything, maybe it would get her the hell out of this damn hotel. Not that the fog was any better, but at least she wouldn't have this overwhelming feeling of being trapped.

She backed away, taking easy steps just in case the floor around her gave way as well. She didn't know where Talia went; she didn't want to know were Talia went. All she knew was that the Minerva Captain was gone, swallowed by the room itself. Murrue only looked around when she felt she was completely out in the hallway again. Her breath caught in her throat, this was impossible.

Everything had gone back to normal. The dark dingy atmosphere returned to the lighted dusty, yet tolerable scenery of an abandoned hotel. The wire grating walls were gone, and the bloodstained floor was as clean as it could be considering the wear and tear.

Murrue snapped her gaze back to the room where the little boy was, everything was neat and clean, no sight of a gaping hole to be seen. Tidy waxed floors and a decorative mat lay there instead. She felt the muscles in her neck twinge involuntarily and she knew exactly why. She needed to get out of here; this place was quickly driving her insane.

She didn't waste this opportunity; she bolted to the emergency stairs and did not stop for anything until she was in the lobby once more. She stopped, she didn't really know why but felt compelled to do so. She looked around for hopefully the last time, hoping perhaps to see Talia, or even that green haired man of hers waiting. They were both quite capable especially the Minerva Captain and both were coordinators at that. But it seems like this hell did not discriminate, as no one was in the lobby waiting for Murrue.

Her arm stung.

She placed a hand over the wound received from the crazy axe-wielding maniac that had Talia's face. It stung and itched, and the blood still trickled from the gash slowly. Her sleeve was still damp and soaking, this needed attention. It was all she could think of now, as her energy quickly drained the more she became aware of the pain.

She burst back out into the fog, knowing she wasn't being as cautious as she should. But the burning in her arm and her pale complexion overrode any fear of roaming monsters that she may have had before.

Murrue didn't know how long she stumbled through the dense air until she found a main street, passing by the multitude of neglected stores until she found what she was looking for. She slammed against the doors, only to find they were locked. She growled, knowing she was near her limits and didn't care if anything heard what she did next. Murrue reached for her gun and shot at the glass panes, grinning madly as they shattered she tripped over the doorframe as she made her way into the pharmacy.

Murrue was so weak she couldn't stop from tumbling into the counters, knocking over whatever various items were stacked up. She finally smashed her way into what she wanted, or whatever was closest that she could use. Grabbing some gauss and a bottle of peroxide she finally let herself collapse into the back wall. Somehow she got her jacket off, despite being torn on the sleeve and across her stomach it was still functional. She tossed it aside and looked to her wound.

The cut was deep, but it didn't look too bad, thankfully it wouldn't need stitches. She got the peroxide ready, knowing very well that this was going to hurt, but wanted the reassurance of knowing the dust and whatever grime from the hotel was cleansed away.

She braced herself, and then poured. She felt a cold sensation at first as the chemical came in contact with the open wound. It sizzled and foamed as it touched her blood, then began to sting.

Murrue's jaw clamped tight, hissing through clenched teeth as the stinging persisted. The pain taking her back to memories of her youth when her mother would do the same on cuts and scrapes. Murrue remembered clearly her mother's voice, telling her it wasn't going to hurt every time this needed to be done.

A smirk crossed her lips. '_The liar._'

The pain soon subsided and Murrue finished the job by dressing the gash tightly. She didn't bother putting her jacket back on, and just sat there for a bit. She looked to her left and grabbed a bottle of something off the shelf next to her. It was a health drink of sorts, she wasn't very fond of them to begin with, but anything slightly nutritious right now would probably do her a world of good.

She eyed the bottle; it looked clean enough, and then snapped it open and took a swig. She nearly gagged, but managed to swallow it. It tasted like pressed lawn clippings mixed with extract of peanut husks.

Murrue forced another gulp, then laughed. Remembering how many of her crew would sneak these kinds of things onboard in an attempt to avoid whatever swill was served with lunch. "Must have been a trend thing." She half mumbled, her voice sounding drained. "I don't know who would admit this could taste good."

A sigh escaped her. Her crew. She had no idea what had become of them, no idea if they were even still alive. Images of the town invaded her mind, the way Talia fell, her officer disappearing, the monsters in the alleys, and that huge pyramid-head thing.

The way it stared at her.

_At her._

Her good arm raised on its own accord as it tried to swipe away the invisible image of that creature in front of her. Her arm fell back to the floor when the memory left her staring at an empty store.

She felt like crying but held it back, choking back a sob that tried to escape. She would not give up now, not after escaping everything so far. She would not give in to this place, she would not allow it to take her mind. She'd find her crew, make her way back to her ship and get the hell out. Maybe even turn the Lohengrin on this messed up town, laugh as it burns to dust. Then she'd fire it again just for good measure, to hell with the environment.

Murrue took a final mouthful of the foul tasting health drink let the bottle fall from her hand. "I must be really losing my mind to think something like that." She half mumbled to herself while her head fell back on its own accord. Exhaustion finally took over, and sleep took hold.

* * *

Talia gasped, then coughed as dust and stale air greeted her on her return to the waking world, if this nightmare could be called that. She'd rather go back to sleep.

The Minerva Captain opened her eyes. She could just barely make out the faintest light above her through the massive hole in the roof. There was nothing up there however, whatever light she was seeing was soon drowned out by the blackness above.

She sat up quickly, remembering seeing Daniel here of all places. She did not know how it was possible, he was supposed to be safe up in the PLANTs, up in space thousands and thousands of miles away from earth itself. Yet there he was, she was sure of it, clear as day in that room… ignoring her.

Pain overtook her senses as her body reminded her what she just went through, bone and muscle popping at the slightest movement. She must have landed badly on her already injured back. Her axe was next to her, broken in two and rendered useless.

"I'm lucky to be alive." She murmured as she attempted to stand, grateful the axe head didn't land on her. She stumbled a bit before she steadied herself on her feet, and then tried to figure out where the heck she was now.

All around her was concrete, from the walls right down to the floor. A simple basement if she ever saw one. There was the odd decoration here and there, a broken neon sign, a ruined picture frame and a few broken chairs. She noticed a bar at one end and walked towards it. There was nothing on the shelves behind it however, just more dust and broken glass bottles, ghosts of times when liquor was passed about eagerly.

Knowing how rowdy bars can get, Talia decided to take a closer look. She hopped over the faux mahogany in a swift leap, the movement causing her muscles to protest somewhat, but the reward was worth it.

A combat shotgun lay hidden and out of place in a cabinet, a box of shells sitting next to it unopened. She picked the weapon up tentatively, half expecting something to jump out of the dark space. Instead there was something underneath the gun, carved into the wood cabinet itself.

It was circular, outlined in a bright red ink. She ran a finger over it trying to make anything of it, as it was well worn and damaged. She decided it wasn't anything important and moved on.

She tested the weight of her new weapon, pointing and aiming at nothing in particular. It looked to be in good shape, but she really wouldn't know until she fired. She brought the extra shells up on the table and began to load the gun. To her surprise it had a magazine extender allowing the generic shotgun to hold eight rounds. It also had an extra shell holder on the butt of the gun, permitting her to carry extra ammo a bit more easily. Whoever owned this bar must have meant business… or just really liked guns.

The faintest of sounds caught her ears and in an instant her newly acquired weapon was up and aimed in its direction. She hopped the bar again and walked towards the wall in the direction of the noise. This corner was darker then the rest, she simply thought it was a play of the light but as she drew closer Talia noticed a strange texture, a sort of dark vegetation spreading all over.

The sound again, and again her reflexes had the gun pointed before she even had a chance to let the movement register. Carefully she stepped forward, fully aware of how the soft mass squished under her boots. An audible groan this time, and Talia noticed a tuft of odd colour amongst the dark growth on the wall.

A moan, a person's moan came from a lump on the wall. Talia ignored all the warnings and placed her hand over it feeling the warmth from whomever underneath. She tugged at the growth until a very familiar face was revealed.

"Dupre!" She recognized her crewman, and instantly attempted to free him. "How did you get here? Where is everyone?" She asked as she franticly pulled and tore away enough of the growth to free his face.

"Look…out for….him…" Vino mumbled in barely a whisper.

"What? Look out for who?" She pulled some more but the growth was quite resilient, sliding back up the boy's face the moment she let go.

"Him… look out for Him!"

Before she knew what was going on something wrapped around Talia's ankle. A tremendous force quickly yanked her away from the boy and dragged her roughly across the rough cold floor. She managed to turn on her back and see the fleshy tentacle-like appendage pulling her along. Gun still in hand, she didn't bother looking where this slimy vine was taking her, and opened fire.

There was a cloud of black ichor as the powerful blast severed the vine from her leg, freeing her from its grip. Scrambling back to her feet she didn't realize how far and how fast the slimy thing had dragged her, until she looked up into glowing green eyes set deep into the concrete wall.

She had been nearly pulled to the other end of the room, the vines objective clearly to slam her into the wall that now glared at her. The wall itself began to shift and move, the flesh-like vegetative growth moving out the way to reveal a giant face, a terrible semi-robotic face intertwined with fleshy growths and pulsing veins. It was the face of the Impulse Gundam.

"What… the… hell..."

Another slimy vine slammed into her from the side, sending her careening off her feet to land hard on the concrete floor. She tried to get up, but was quickly slammed again, sliding back into the wall where the boy was trapped.

Almost immediately the fleshy growth tried to cover her, growing rapidly over her jacket and adhering her arms in place. Talia would have none of that, and before it could cement her in place she fought against it. The vines snapped and popped as she pulled away, the fabric of her uniform tearing with it. The monster on the wall sensed her escape and screamed in protest.

The sound was horrendous, like an animal in distress with overtones of metal grinding against metal. She would have covered her ears if something hadn't already grabbed her.

It came from the ceiling, wrapping around her chest as it took hold and lifted her off the ground. She cried out in pain, this one had thorns that hooked into her clothes and dug painfully into skin.

The appendage thrashed her about, shaking her madly in the air and causing the thorns to dig in even worse. Through the whole thing she somehow held onto her weapon and fired it blindly. She didn't see what it hit, all she knew was that the thrashing stopped and she was again being pulled towards the giant face.

The face itself seemed like it was trying to escape from the wall, looking like it wanted to devour her in some strange way. Those putrid green eyes followed her madly, black pupils dashing about in random disturbing patterns.

Talia did not like how close she was getting to this strange thing and opened fire again on the face. She was rewarded by another ear piercing screech as the thing dropped her. The moment she hit the ground she raised the shotgun again to finish it off, but smaller vines were now trying to tangle her feet and throwing off her aim.

She stomped one of the vines in place with a heavy boot, holding in place as it squirmed underneath her. Now able to keep this nasty thing in her sights, fhe fired off two rounds. One blasted one of the eyes causing that strange black blood to ooze down in torrents. The other shot hit the faceplate, damaging it more then it should have if this thing was really a Gundam. The protective plate fell away, revealing behind it a mouth most horrid. Lipless orifice stretched into a permanent painful grin, deranged blackened-yellow teeth constantly gnashing together. The huge gaping maw of exposed muscle and metal moved and writhed as if trying to speak in some strange mechanical language.

Its good eye turned to her, the black ghoulish pupil amongst a sea of green locked onto the Minerva captain standing before it. The sickening mouth opened in a roar, spilling a river of thick black bile.

Talia hesitated for a moment, mesmerized by the sheer monstrosity in front of her. So engrossed by the sight that she did not notice another of those tentacles reach up from the pool of black ichor. It grabbed her again and lifted her off her feet to slam her into the hard cement floor. The shotgun fell from her hands as the appendage slammed her again and again. It let go when the she refused to lose consciousness, throwing her back into the middle of the room.

She tried to get back up, but everything was fuzzy and the room was spinning. She could hear the groans of the face as the slithering arm drew closer and closer. Talia felt around the cement floor blindly, without her weapon there was no way she could defend herself against this thing.

She felt the unnatural thing wrap around her leg tightly and just as it began to drag her away her hand ran over something cold and metallic. She gripped the head of the broken axe as best she could, knowing she would have to make due with what she had.

The tentacle like arm twirled her around to face the monstrous thing in the wall again. Raising her up until she was in line with its horrible mouth. The maw itself opened as she drew closer, waiting to devour its next meal.

When Talia was close enough to reach out and touch the foul creature, she lashed out. Jamming the sharp axe into its flesh over and over, slicing at it with all the strength she had left. The appendage dropped her as the face cried out from her assault. She somehow landed on her feet and immediately dove for the shotgun nearby. Talia did not waste one precious second. She pointed her weapon at the beast in the wall and unloaded whatever shells remained into the things face.

Black sticky thick fluid spilled from the things face as it was decimated by the closeness of her shots. It cried out in pain as its teeth shattered and flesh was torn away, its festering blood spilling out onto the concrete floor. A final ear-shattering screech as its other eye exploded in a disgusting spray of black, and then fell silent. The face relaxed, the vines stopped writhing.

A good two minutes ticked by before she lowered the gun, her entire body shaking from the ordeal. The thing was truly dead.

Talia stood there, cut, bruised and sore. She unwrapped a vile limb from around her upper body, and then tore away what was left of her jacket letting it fall to the ground. She had just killed a monster, not just any monster… a bloody disgusting monster that looked like a mobile suit that was fighting by her side not too long ago. But it was dead now, and unable to hurt her or anyone else.

Talia swerved unsteadily on her feet. All she wanted to do now was to lie down, just go to sleep and hope to wake up in her bunk on the Minerva and put this nightmare behind her. Instead she remembered her trapped crewman she tried to free before being dragged away. She ran back to the wall and resumed pulling away the nasty growths until bright hair could be seen underneath. The vine substance gave no resistance now that its host was dead. Unfortunately she wasn't fast enough on the kill.

She let out a sorrow filled sigh as she pulled the small lifeless boy into her arms. Her lips turned up into a snarl before her fist hit the wall in anger. Vino was dead, Arthur was most likely dead as well, and she has no idea why? What for? What is this place and why is it all happening!?

Talia couldn't leave him here in this gunk. She picked him up and placed the young man down gently in the centre of the room, then carefully collected her captain's jacket and laid it over him.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could say right now, there was really nothing else she could say. She left him as she stood, collected the shotgun that had killed the creature and made her way towards the door.

A moan from the monstrous face cried out. Not an unnatural moan, but a sound belonging to a human boy. She tentatively returned to the disturbing bleeding face and listened. The cut and smashed mouth began to open up, Talia nearly backed away in fear of something horrible, but instead something began to slide out.

The shape of someone slid from the mouth, the red ZAFT uniform coming into view.

"Shinn!" She yelled and immediately pulled the boy away from the monstrous face. Dead or not it was still disturbing, and she wanted to be as far from it as possible.

She checked the young Mobile Suit pilot for a pulse. He had one, and it was strong too, but the boy would not respond no matter what she did. She nearly shouted in glee at her discovery, if she couldn't save them all, at least she saved one.

Something else began to slide from the oozing mouth. Along with him came more pieces of cloth, curious, Talia pulled it free from the slimy oozing face and held it up in the low light. It was a uniform, torn and shredded. The nametag read the name Hawke. L.

Her face contorted into one of pure rage, her knuckles cracking by the tightness of her fist. She had to force a breath to relax every muscle in her body, remembering that at least she saved Shinn for now. Losing her cool would do none of them any good.

She loaded the shotgun again, and stuffed whatever shells were left in her pocket. "Come on Shinn, I'm not letting you die down here." She picked up the boy; thankful he was a bit small for his age and tossed him over a shoulder. He only slowed her a little, if it were Rey she doubted she would get far at all. At least she was still able to carry her weapon and still move.

Shinn over one shoulder, a shotgun in her other hand, cut and bruised and covered in bloody grime. Talia was beginning to look as scary as the inhabitants of this place herself. She huffed as she adjusted Shinn then began walking to the exit. Too many have died, and despite the far away look on her son's face, the way he ignored her as she begged him not to let her fall, there was no way in this godforsaken hell that Talia was going to let her son die here as well.

Any monster on the other side of this door better not try to get in her way.

Mama bear is pissed.

* * *

Murrue jolted awake, handgun at the ready pointed at nothing in particular.

"Great, I'm jumping at shadows." She said to herself as she shook away the haze of sleep and got to her feet.

Her arm still hurt, but at least the stinging pain had stopped. Ready to leave this place and find this address, Murrue took a step only to feel the crumple of paper under her foot. She looked down, pretty sure there was no newspaper clipping next to her before, and picked it up.

It was a small headline, something about children disappearing from an orphanage. A suspected cult being involved, some sort of dark church held in the basement of people's homes. The rest was mumbo jumbo to Murrue, random names and pictures of lost children. What got her attention was a symbol printed there. A halo with runes along its inner rim, followed by three smaller circles placed in a triangular shape in its centre.

Murrue was certain she had never seen it before, but just staring at it made her head buzz. She had to physically shake her head to snap out of it; oblivious to the amount of time she was standing there simply staring at it. She dropped the scrap of paper to the ground as if it was on fire. She already felt completely insane. She didn't need any more help getting there. It was definitely time to get moving.

She spotted something in her passing. Near the register were various maps, she rummaged though them until she found one that would be of use. It was a map of Silent Hill itself.

She unfurled it immediately, thinking now she could find her way out, and if not at least find this Levin Street. But first she had to find out where the heck she was in relation to the map.

She found the Lakeview Hotel, and with a finger followed the road she believed she traversed to get here. The road kept going, she didn't realise just how far she had marched in her exhausted delirium. Finally the road slowly banked north, and into what was called Old Silent Hill. Blocks of houses and small shops peppered the map. She noticed Levin Street, running from top to bottom of the old town, now she just had to figure out where she was.

She looked around for any mention of a pharmacy, but the map wasn't that detailed to list every single building. She took a glance out into the fog and across the street, noticing another shop. It was grungy like the rest of this place, but she could just barely make out TOP SALES. She looked back to the map, and there it was in one of the bigger squares on the map.

"Finally a little luck."

She mumbled to herself happily for once. Levin Street was just around the corner. She just hoped and prayed it didn't lead her to another haunted apartment, or some sinister looking monster.

Thinking this would come in handy for future use, Murrue folded up the map and placed it in her jacket. She looked outside and took a breath, and made her way back out into the fog.

* * *

**A/N**: Murrue's slowly going crazy, Talia's pissed off, Shinn is comatose. What Next?

Whoooo knoooooows.

Besides the messed up bossfight not much happening this chapter by way of plot. I shall rectify that next time. Yarrr! I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!

Ps. I just noticed I have Talia killing all the big baddies… I'll have to change that. Mwa haha.

And Murrue totally didn't just look at that seal and save her game. _ ha!


End file.
